"Education costs money, but then so does ignorance." -Sir Claus Moser. In a world where technology is the glue that holds our lives together, the ones who need it most have no access to it. I am talking about students in our schools of high poverty that have no technology because it is expensive.
Here in Oregon there are many schools that have the latest technology and the means to get whatever they find necessary to meet the needs of their students.
The students I serve however, are not at one of those schools. My students are in the highest poverty percentage in the district. My students live day to day not knowing if they will have a roof over their heads the next week. My students come to a school that has been forgotten while others have been built around it. My students have no gym and have PE outside year-round while other schools sometimes have two full-size indoor gyms. My students have choir, orchestra, music, library and assemblies in the same small room. My school has more classrooms outside in portables than inside the school because asbestos has rendered one third of the school useless. In short, my students are the ones who have been forgotten. My goal is to show them that they are important to someone out there besides the teachers at this school.
My Project
By using a tablet as part of a listening center, I can load talking books to support student reading. Students can record reading passages and get formative feedback in a variety of areas related to their oral reading skills. Using the software on my computer, I could sync and analyze students digital recording in their own file and give them the opportunity to play it back and work with them to correct their errors. Since I work in small groups of 4-5 I have the opportunity to use the tablet alongside them and gradually release control over to them. The tablet, quite literally, gives my students endless digital content to explore in the palm of their hands. But the best part would be showing my students how amazing technology is and helping them towards becoming technologically literate for their future.
Today's world is full of technology.
We see it in every aspect of life. It is no coincidence that schools are starting to invest in technology. As technology improves so does the need to understand it. Please help me prove to these students that technology is more than a television and a DVD player. Within my group of students I could have the next Steve Jobs but we will never know unless we give them that spark. Thank you.
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